Buckeyes for Concealed Carry on Campus is a group of Ohio State students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, as well as fans and other non-affiliates focused on restoring the right to lawfully carry a concealed handgun on Ohio's college campuses.

One of the common arguments offered against campus concealed carry is that “the college lifestyle is defined by alcohol and drug abuse. Why would any sane person want to add guns to that mix?” There are many fallacies to this argument, but its base stereotypes us all as the fictional heathens depicted in Animal House. This is not only offensive, but it just isn’t true.

A 2002 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that in 2001 49% of US adults consumed alcohol. 48.6% of respondents 21-25 years old who consumed alcohol are binge drinkers (defined by the CDC as someone consuming five or more drinks in one episode). 28.3% of those respondents had some college education. The rate of binge drinking episodes of respondents 21-25 years of age during the period was 18.

Extrapolation of these results tells us that 1 in 14 adults 21-25 years of age attended college and consumed 5 or more drinks once every three weeks. This conclusion assumes that the respondents are independently and identically distributed among all groups, which is a leap. Although more specific data analysis is required to derive statistical significance, it does shed some doubt on the stereotype.

The stereotype is crushed by a 2008 Ohio State Student Life Research and Assessment study. It found that 39.6% of responding OSU students were moderate drinkers and 7.8% were heavy drinkers. The CDC defines heavy drinking as consuming an average of more than 2 drinks per day, or more than 14 drinks per week for men and an average of more than 1 drink per day, or more than 7 drinks per week for women. Moderate drinking is “defined as having up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men. This definition is referring to the amount consumed on any single day and is not intended as an average over several days.”

How can one say that “the college lifestyle is defined by alcohol and drug abuse” when only 1 out of 13 OSU students consume more than 2 drinks per day?

Furthermore, the predictions of violence where we’re permitted to carry in the presence of alcohol just don’t play out. We’re already permitted to carry off-campus where the parties actually happen and blood isn’t flowing in the streets. In fact, there are two very large block parties held near Ohio State every spring, Chittshow and Woodfest, where thousands of students and non-students gather to celebrate and nobody is shooting each other. There have been no incidents where an innocent person was injured as a result of a licensee carrying while intoxicated in the two years we’ve been permitted to carry into alcohol serving establishments.

Why do people continue to cling to this offensive and ignorant argument?

Today, Ohio State University is the subject of a threat of violence on its campus. Emergency Management sent out a notice stating:

The Ohio State University Police Division has been informed of postings to fantasy, role player game sites which reference a potential public safety threat of violence focused on a ‘cafeteria’ today on ‘The Ohio State University campus.’

The notice goes on to say that university officials consider the threat serious enough to have “extra police and security presence on and around campus dining facilities.”

Several students report seeing an unusual amount of officers present in the Ohio Union and other dining facilities.

Third year Industrial Systems and Engineering student Yaniv Levi expressed concern. “ The notice is reactionary. What if the police had never been tipped off? It’s kinda scary.”

Joe Smith, President of Buckeyes for Concealed Carry asked the same question. “What if the police had not been tipped off? How much carnage would someone playing out a fantasy of violence be able to carry out? How would this be different if students were able to defend themselves?”

Smith points to recent mass shootings and other incidents that did not develop into mass shootings but could have as examples.

“In Aurora, Colorado, someone playing out a fantasy was able to kill twelve and injure fifty-eight before his firearm malfunctioned and he was apprehended leaving the theater.” He continued, “In stark contrast, someone playing out a fantasy in an Oregon Mall was met with armed resistance from a college-aged concealed permit holder and fled to take his own life after killing only two innocent people.”

Smith advocates that students who are able to take ownership for their safety can help save others as well as reduce crime around campus.

“When a gunman or any criminal knows there is a possibility he will face armed resistance, he moves to easier targets,” he said. “It’s time we quit legislating target rich environments on college campuses.”

About:Buckeyes for Concealed Carry on Campus is the Ohio State University chapter of Students for Concealed Carry, a non-partison, grassroots organization made of up over 40,000 students, faculty, staff, and other concerned citizens across the nation that advocates for legal concealed carry on college campuses.

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